However,
Jesus۔ism has nothing to do with:What
the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism said.What
Gautama, the Buddha, said.What
Mohammad, God rest his soul, said.What
numerous other holy men and women, prophets, and spiritual messengers
said.What
science said and says.

Jesus۔ism
has utmost respect for the above sources, and does not disbelieve in
any of
their beliefs.The focus of Jesus۔ism is
on what Jesus said and did.Jesus۔ism is
divested of additions from Judaism and Christianity.

What
exactly did Jesus teach?After two
millenniums, not everybody agrees.But
they
approximately agree.Jesus taught us
about the kingdom of God, and about the importance of the siblinghood
of
people.

What Jesus is
or is not, what he did or did not teach, people continue to debate.All
opinions are welcome within Jesus-ism.Is
Jesus divine, or is he, as Islam teaches, mere۔ly a great prophet?Should we worship him, or merely extend to
him enormous respect? Jesus۔ism takes no
position.Is
Jesus the only son of God, or are there other sons, and maybe daughters?Or maybe all people are children of God.Jesus۔ism takes no position.Did
Jesus perform all the miracles ascribed to him?Or
only some?Or none?Or
more than we know about?Jesus۔ism takes
no position.Did
Jesus, after his crucifixion, reincarnate for three days?Or for one day?Or not at all?Jesus۔ism takes no position.Was
Mary, the mother of Jesus, a virgin?None
of Jesus۔ism’s business.

Jesus۔ism has
nothing to do with so-called “Jesusanity”, which differs from
Christianity by insist۔ing
that Jesus was not divine.

Gautama may
have been raised within Hinduism, but he was not, ultimately, a
reformer of that
great religion; his message was so new, that it became the basis of a
new
religion.Jesus was raised within
Judaism, but he was not, ultimately, a reformer of that great religion;
his
message was so new, that it became the basis of a new religion.Yet whereas Buddhism separated from Hinduism,
Christianity never separated from Judaism.

What we
know about Jesus and his teaching is broadening.The
bedrock of our traditional knowledge about
Jesus’ life and teaching is the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John.But there are additional sources.During the 20th century, important new
manuscripts were discovered.More can be
expected to be found.Scholars and
scientific techniques increase our undestanding of existing manuscripts.New revelations about Jesus have been
revealed.

There is no
contradiction between Jesus۔ism and science.Jesus’
teaching focused on the spiritual.Scientists,
as they strive to explain our
universe, focus exclusively on the material.

Jesus۔ism is a grassroots religion. Jesus۔ism has no doctrines, no rituals, no
founder, no leaders, no authorities, no hierarchy, no staff, no
headquarters, no membership, no
buildings, no property, no money.It
does not accept donations.Its adherents
– Jesus۔ists – communicate mainly via Internet, in small neighborhood gatherings, and by word of mouth.

Following the example of Jesus, Jesus۔ism does not specify
moral imperatives.Morals cannot be
extracted from cultures and sub-cultures, which differ from place to place and change
with the flow of time.A conscientious
follower of Jesus’ teaching is expected to act morally, in accordance with her
or his sincere moral beliefs. As a world religion, Jesus۔ism does not say, Do
this, Don’t do that.

Jesus۔ists
feel enormous respect, gratitude, and even reverence toward all other religions –
each in
it’s own way urge۔ing a portion of humanity spiritually upward.Jesus-ism takes no position on any of their
tenets.

Like a Buddhist, a Jesus۔ist can
also be a follower of any other religion.

Without Christianity, the message of
Jesus (who leaved no writings) would have been forever lost.That service is worth more than words can
express.Certainly without Christianity,
there would be no Jesus۔ism.Yet, in the
humble opinion of Jesus۔ists, Christianity’s priceless service to
humanity does
not mean that Christian doctrine – which was created not by Jesus but
by men, lacking
significant input from the more sensitive gender – is infallable.

Why doesn’t Jesus۔ism treat
Christianity as absolute truth?(Reminder:Jesus۔ism does not
opinion that Christianity
is not absolute truth. Jesus۔ism takes no position on that or
any other
issue.)Followers
of the Torah (Jews) were complicit with Romans in torturing Jesus to
death.Jews have subsequently remained loyal to their own religion Judaism.Saul
of Tarsus (a Roman citizen whose letters dominate the Bible to the
extent that
he could be considered the founder of Christianity) hate۔d Jesus, who
he had
never met, although they lived in the same region at the same time.Saul loathed Jesus’ teaching so much that he
was leading a militia en route to Damascus to hunt Jesus’ followers and
slaughter
them, when he had a revelation.Saul’s
subsequent
opinions may all be correct, but they are not Jesus’.Romans,
after torturing Jesus to death, persecuted Christians for centurys,
publically burning
them alive at stakes and feeding them alive to lions, before – at a
time when
their political empire was in steep decline – declaring themselfs the
sole
authority of Christian religion, and insisting, as they still do to
this day,
that Roman popes were and are the sole link between God and people.Jesus designated no such authority.European
Christian intellectuals, by adamantly insisting on the literal
correctness of
Judaism scripture, significantly impeded the development of science –
which
ultimately, when science proved wrong their cosmology, resulted in a
crisis of
doubt among Christians, with effects lingering to this day.Jesus, as far as we know, made no scientific
pronouncements.North
American Christians, by insisting that homosexuality is a sin, caused,
and
continue to cause, untold suffering by a signficant subset of humanity.Jesus made no statements condemning
homosexuality;
he made many statements encouraging tolerance.Christianity
has done little or nothing to prevent wars – mankind at it’s evilest.Statistically, Christians have killed more
people (most of them fellow-Christians) than any other grouping of
humanity.During World War II, Christian
men killed more than fifty million people, including millions of
helpless women
and children.That historical record
flies in the face of Jesus’ insistence on love and brotherhood.

Europeans
took Jesus’ message westward, modifying it to increase its appeal.Greece, Rome, the Renaissance, theologians,
popes, kings – each left their imprint on Jesus’ core message.Christianity is essentially a European
religion (institutionalized, intellectualized) – by and for Europeans,
including
European descendants in the Americas.(Exceptions
are the spread of Christianity by European
missionaries to
Africa south of the Sahara desert, where it is sometimes blended with
ancient
folk religions, and by European Spanish colonists to Philippines
islands.)

The
Europeanization of Jesus’ message has rendered his message less
palatable to some
other ethnicities.

Yet Jesus
was not European.

Jesus’
message devoid of Europeanization may be more acceptable eastward, in
Asia,
where the bulk of humanity resides.

Jesus۔ism
is a 21st century religion.It’s maiden
language
is Peoplese, www.peoplese.org.Jesus۔ism
does not insist on this or that.Jesus۔ists admit they may be wrong – or,
perhaps
more plausibly, may be merely another stepping stone to something more
apropos
to the emerging era of oneness of humanity.